Panwar visits landslide-hit Kempty area
Assures affected people of speedy relief
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, August 8
Though belated, Urban Development and Housing Minister Pritam Singh Panwar today visited the area and took stock of the damage caused in the disaster-prone zone of Kempty due to a landslip following incessant rain three days ago.

The landslide had caused severe damage to Lake No.1 and a 70-metre stretch of the Mussoorie-Kempty-Yamunotri road just before the bridge leading to Kempty Falls. Three restaurants were also damaged due to the landslide and the losses were estimated at Rs 30 lakh.

Panwar reached Kempty around 11 am and met the affected persons. He assured them of speedy grant of compensation. He also met officials and held a meeting in the presence of villagers to discuss the ways to speed up repair work in the area.

Panwar after listening to the grievances of the affected persons directed the officials concerned to speed up the work to repair the damaged road and remove debris from the lake at Kempty Falls. He directed the PWD officials to speed up the repair work at the 70-metre stretch of the road.

Later speaking to mediapersons the minister said the road here had been damaged extensively and it would take around one month to repair it. He added necessary directions had been given to repair of the road by working round the clock so that the pilgrims on their way to Yamunotri and the tourists visiting Kempty Falls did not have to face any inconvenience.

Panwar said the PWD had been directed to begin the work on the Kempty bypass so that it could be used as an alternative route by the people visiting Kempty Falls and Yamunotri.

He said he would seek more funds from the government for the development and beautification of the facilities at Kempty Falls that had been damaged due to the landslide. About improving parking facilities at Kempty, Panwar said that his department was working on an action plan to develop parking facilities and the directions had been given to the officials concerned to keep the areas of tourist interest in Kempty as well as Mussoorie clean by deploying additional staff.

Speaking about the relief work being done in Uttarkashi, he said the ITBP and the Army had been deployed in the areas that had been cut off from the world. Medical teams and the initial relief material had been sent to the affected areas. Directions had also been given to the officials concerned to reopen the national highway on the Yamunotri and Gangotri routes and evacuate all tourists and villagers who were still stranded in the remote areas.

The Nehru Institute of Mountaineering workers had also started relief work and rescued affected persons by building temporary Burma bridges on the rivers where they had collapsed. Directions had been given for the repair of link roads to Kharati, Misni and Hanuman Chatti villages. Food packets were being dropped through helicopters and more help was on the way. Directions had also been given for the rehabilitation of the affected villagers and their evacuation to a safe place.

However, the affected areas face the danger of more landslides in case rain continues as most of the rocks have developed cracks. 

Vigilance to probe complaints against MC, says minister
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, August 8
Urban and Housing Minister Pritam Panwar said today that he had ordered an inquiry by the Vigilance Department into complaints of irregularities committed by the Mussoorie Municipal Council. He was speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of his visit to the Kempty area.

The Vigilance Department would begin its work soon in order to curb corrupt practices in the council. Panwar said several officials with dubious records had been transferred from Mussoorie so that the inquiry was not affected.

The minister said any person found guilty of wrongdoing would not be spared even if he or she were a member of the council.

Panwar said he was closely watching the activities of the council and would act strictly if any irregularities were reported. He added he had also received several complaints of the misuse of funds collected as eco-fee at the barrier at Kholhukhet, near Mussoorie, by the council and had directed the officials to avoid taking the fee from local vehicles which were on their way to Uttarkashi. Speaking about solid waste management in the municipal councils in the state, Panwar said soon he would be meeting the officials of all urban local bodies and formulate an action plan to manage waste and recycle it by using innovative means.

Helicopters pressed into service

Dehradun, August 8
Along with the state helicopter that carried a team of five doctors to Sangam Chatti in Uttarkashi, two other helicopters from the Hindan and Sarsawa air force station were pressed into service to speed up the relief operation in the state.

The team of doctors with medicines will be rendering services in and around Sangam Chatti in Uttarkashi. A total of 17 villages continue to be cut off from the district headquarters. “Due to inclement weather, the helicopters could just take a flight during which food items and rations were deposited at Malti. As of now, food items are not being dropped,” said Om Prakash, Principal Secretary, Disaster Management. The BRO has been successful in opening roads from Malti onwards for small vehicles. — TNS

Road, bridge repairs may cost Rs 90 cr

Dehradun, August 8
The government will require at least Rs 90 crore to repair roads and bridges that have been damaged in the cloudburst in Uttarkashi on August 4.

Sixteen bridges and 46 roads have been damaged in the cloudburst and the repair work is expected to start after the monsoon. Of the 936 roads that were damaged due to heavy rain and landslides, 616 had been opened and the remaining 320 would be opened in a day or two.

Similarly, 43 water schemes were damaged in the cloudburst and water was being supplied to Gyansu, Uttarkashi and Joshiyara areas through eight tankers.

Trolley and wooden bridge have been made functional in Gangotri, the site of the devastation, while the Bailey bridge too would take at least five days for repair. “The government will be acquiring two houses and the site of a petrol pump for the purpose,” said Om Prakash, Principal Secretary, Department of Disaster Management. The Indian Red Cross Society has also provided 50 blankets, five tents, 10 tarpaulin and bedding for the affected families.

Space centre to assess damage through satellite imageries
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 8
The Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) will assess the damage caused by the Uttarkashi cloudburst through satellite imageries. It has already asked for pre and post-cloudburst imageries from the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.

A riverside shrine buried in silt carried in the Bhagirathi, which experienced flash floods, in Uttarkashi on Wednesday

Stating that prima facie, Bhatwari, Maneri, Saruri Gad, Sangam Chatti and Uttarkashi town faced most of the brunt of the cloudburst and flash floods, the USAC has sought satellite imageries of these locations to get the correct assessment of the damage.

"After getting the satellite imageries from the Indian Space Research Organisation's National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, we will be able to ascertain the exact damage to the infrastructure in Uttarkashi," said MM Kimothi, Director, USAC.

The damage to forest and any change in the course of the Bhagirathi in Uttarkashi would be cleared after the study of the satellite data.

He said besides estimating the damage, high-satellite imageries helped know structural damages and any change in the river system. Earlier, the USAC had successfully estimated the number of pilgrims in Haridwar during the last 'shahi snan' of Mahakumbh on April 14, 2010, through satellite imageries.

The USAC is also working towards preparing a disaster alert system for Uttarakhand.

"Triggering factors must be identified for setting up a model that helps in coming up with a warning system for cases of cloudburst or landslides in the Himalayan region," he added.

The Uttarakhand Government has identified the USAC as a nodal agency for carrying out all space-related programmes in the state.

Shifting of Arhat Bazaar traders not in sight
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 8
The issues of shifting of Arhat Bazaar and widening of the Prince Chowk-Saharanpur road, which have been hanging fire for more than a decade, were revived after new Vice-Chairman of the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), RM Sundaram, introduced an altered plan. However, nothing had been done on ground in this regard in the last three months.

Sundaram said he had planned to shift the traders of Arhat Bazaar to Niranjanpur Mandi, near the Shimla bypass, but later it was found that there was no vacant space in the area. He added he had come to know about spare land in a nearby village where the traders of Arhat Bazaar could be shifted. However, the matter was still in the preliminary stage.

Under the revised plan, the traders of Arhat Bazaar are to be shifted in two stages. In the first stage, 11 traders, who have their shops near Guru Singh Sabha, will be shifted as this is the longest and the narrowest stretch on the Saharanpur road. In the second stage, a 550-meter road from Prince Chowk to the Saharnpur road will be widened up to 12 metres on each side. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 9 crore.

Before the MDDA came into existence, it was Dehradun Municipal Corporation which dealt with the issue. City Mayor Vinod Chamoli said the state government had now made the MDDA the nodal agency to prepare the plan and look for viable land for shifting the Arhat Bazaar traders. Later the Public Works Department (PWD) would dismantle the shops. He added the government was yet to decide which department would be responsible for paying compensation to the traders and relocating them.

Chamoli, however, suggested that 11 traders from the narrow stretch on the Saharanpur road be shifted to the new shopping complex near Clock Tower where displaced shopkeepers from the Chakrata Road had been allotted shops. He said, “The traders are ready to shift to the new shopping complex. The state government should have wrapped up the task of shifting 11 traders from Arhat Bazaar when it took up the matter of widening of the Chakrata road. Both issues could have been settled together and the people of the city would have got immediate relief with the widening of two major congested roads.”

More than 200 shops are expected to be shifted in the second phase. It was on the initiative of former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank that the Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti had prepared a detailed project report demanding Rs 167 crore for the shifting of Arhat Bazaar under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and sent it to the Central government. The report was first sent to the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) for approval which in turn forwarded it to the Union Urban Development ministry for further clearance in December 2009. The matter had been pending since then. However, the MDDA had once again revived the issue.

Three-day Aanthon festival begins
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 8
A three-day Aanthon Mahotsava was inaugurated in Pithoragarh town today. It would display all rituals of the traditional festival as it was celebrated in the villages of eastern Kumaon and parts of western Nepal since ancient times.

Goddess Parvati and lord Shiva are worshipped by village women on the occasion to beget all happiness in their lives. “During three days of the mahotsava, the women from nearby villages and remote parts of the district will gather in the town to display their skills in rendering traditional songs,” said Jagdish Punera, secretary of the organising committee of the mahotsava.

He said the festival, which was being organised for the last three years, aimed at promoting the local culture at the community level. It was organised at the village level traditionally. “We want to worship lord Shiva and goddess parvati in the traditional way to awaken the people in the same way Balgangadhar Tilak did by promoting the Ganapati Mahotsava in Maharashtra in the nineteenth century,” said Punera.

10 IAS officers given additional responsibilities
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 8
The Uttarakhand government today reshuffled the responsibilities of 10 IAS officers in the state. Secretary Vinod Fonia has been given the charge of Secretary, Rural Development, in addition to small scale industries.

Arun Dhondiyal, Secretary, has been divested of the charge of rural development though he will continue to hold the charge of panchayati raj.

PS Gusain, Secretary, has been divested of the charge of cooperatives. However, he will continue to hold the charge of other departments.

Additional Secretary RC Pathak has been given the additional charge of cooperatives, besides the charge of Department of Animal Husbandry and Fishery.

Besides information technology and protocol, MH Khan, Secretary, has been given the additional charge of the Social Welfare Department. Suverdhan, Secretary, who earlier held the charge of the Social Welfare Department, has been given the charge of the Irrigation Department.

Additional Director AS Napalchayal of the Nainital-based administrative academy has been transferred as Commissioner, Cane Sugar Development.

Dilip Jawalkar, Additional Secretary to Chief Minister, has been given the additional charge of the Excise Department. Additional Secretary D Senthil Pandiyan has been divested of the responsibility of the Water Resource Department. 

Sikh delegation meets Governor
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 8
A three-member Sikh delegation, led by Charan Singh Nayak, coordinator of the BJP’s state industries cell, today submitted a letter to the Governor to be forwarded to the President, requesting that the safety of the Sikhs living abroad be ensured.

It also demanded that the families of those killed in various attacks abroad be compensated and given jobs and a protest be raised against the American government against the attack on a gurdwara in America recently.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal and State Cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat called on Governor Aziz Qureshi at Raj Bhavan today.

School van drivers allege harassment by traffic police personnel
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 8
State president of the Uttarakhand School Van Association Sachin Gupta, along with organisation members, yesterday staged a demonstration in front of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) office in protest against the alleged harassment of school van drivers by traffic policemen.

He also met SSP Neeru Garg and told her that there were no guidelines with regard to the plying of school vans in the state.

Gupta alleged that traffic cops issued challans to school van drivers now and then for no reason and stopped their vehicles to verify about overloading. He alleged that unlike other states, school vans had not been given recognition in the state.

He further said: “I had even placed the matter before the Regional Transport Official (RTO) and demanded the formulation of a separate act in this regard. The RTO had given me an assurance that the Act formulated by other states would be studied and a report would be sent to the state government. However, till a new Act takes shape, the drivers of school vans should not be issued challans.”

He said youngsters associated with school vans were doing a commendable job as they had adopted means of self-reliance in the state which was plagued with the problem of unemployment. Members of the association also threatened to launch an agitation if their demands were not met.

SSP Garg, however, said personal vehicles could not be allowed to ply for commercial purposes. With regard to the absence of guidelines on the issue, the SSP gave them an assurance that she would talk to higher officials to get clarity on the norms.

She also clarified that overloading in school vans would not be tolerated.